Race report

Daniel Suarez earns shock win in rain-shortened Coca Cola 600

With an epic defense at the front, Suarez came out of nowhere to win Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 as the race was called for weather with 27 laps to go

For the first time in 82 races, Daniel Suarez is back in Victory Lane, winning one of the biggest races on the schedule.

After crew chief Ryan Sparks gambled with a two-tire call, Suarez did an incredible job holding off a fleet of Toyota drivers through multiple restarts before rain finally ended the race, 27 laps short of the full 600-mile distance.

This is Suarez's third career win, and his first in over two years.

Watch: Suárez wins Coca-Cola 600, salutes Kyle Busch

Christopher Bell finished second, Denny Hamlin third, Tyler Reddick fourth, and Kyle Larson fifth.

Ty Gibbs, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, William Byron, and Zane Smith filled out the remainder of the top ten.

"It really means a lot," said Suarez on the win. "It really means a lot. I've been saying for years this is my favorite race of the year. I get to have my family here every year. This is most of the time the only race I get to come.

"It's been a very tough week. Kyle, he was special, man. This one is for Kyle. For Kyle, for Samantha, for Brexton, for Lennix, all his family."

An emotional Suarez reflected further, adding: "This win is for him (Busch). If it wasn't for Kyle, I wasn't going to be an Xfinity champion. I wasn't going to have my shot in the Cup series. To win this race for him is unbelievable."

Watch: Suárez in Victory Lane: 'We won it for Kyle'

Stage 1

After an emotional pre-race with the entire Busch family present, the race got underway.

Reddick held the top spot, and there was a breakaway with him and Gibbs at the front.

On Lap 35, Berry went for a spin, triggering the first yellow. Not long after that, there was a gnarly crash with Austin Cindric spinning down the track, and collecting Connor Zilisch. Neither driver was able to continue.

During that yellow, defending Coke 600 winner Ross Chastain stayed out and inherited the race. Despite only roughly 15 laps on the tires, the pace was just too much and he quickly faded through the field.

Bubba Wallace also made contact with Byron on the restart, hitting the wall and damaging his car. He had to pit under green and the No. 23 wasn't really competitive for the rest of the day.

Z. Smith, who opted for two-tires during the Cindric/Zilisch caution, took the lead and held it for a while.

The next caution was for Chase Elliott, who crashed heavily on the backstretch. This set-up a mad dash to the end of the stage.

Larson won Stage 1 over Briscoe, Reddick, Hamlin, Jones, Blaney, Gibbs, Preece, Stenhouse, and Shane van Gisbergen.

Stage 2 and Stage 3

The next two stages were incredibly clean, and the Toyotas dominated. Briscoe led the way for a bit before Hamlin took over. Then we saw our first round of green-flag pit stops with no drama.

Suarez had to make an unscheduled pit stop for the second time in the first two stages as he complained about a vibration. We also learned that Bowman was struggling with a transaxle issue, and did not have first or second gear.

At the very end of the stage, several cars started to slow with flat tires, but Hamlin was not one of them.

Hamlin won Stage 2 over Gibbs, Briscoe, Reddick, Larson, Bell, Blaney, Buescher, Van Gisbergen, and Stenhouse.

There were just 17 cars on the lead lap as the race moved into Stage 3. The next caution was for Double-hopeful Katherine Legge. After crashing to avoid a more serious wreck 18 laps into the Indianapolis 500, she lost a right-front wheel and triggered a full-course yellow, but remained in the race.

On the restart, Reddick made a bold three-wide pass for the lead as the championship leader eyed another crown jewel.

Hamlin eventually took it back as we transitioned back into another round of green-flag pit stops. Bell ran six laps longer than the other leaders, setting him up to be charging at the end of the stage.

A thrilling five-way battle for the lead formed in the closing laps of the stage, and they were all Toyota drivers. After a brilliant back-and-forth battle, Bell emerged with the lead while Reddick -- who was leading, dropped like a stone after using up his tires.

Bell won Stage 3 over Gibbs, Briscoe, Larson, Reddick, Van Gisbergen, Keselowski, Blaney, and Stenhouse.

Stage 4

There was a bit of a delay in opening the pits, after Timmy Hill's No. 66 car erupted in flames and smoke, ending his night.

Gibbs got the lead on the ensuing restart, but defending winner Coke 600 winner Chastain got turned from behind by Ricky Stenhouse Jr, slamming the inside wall.

This led to a big split in strategy, as Gibbs and Van Gisbergen chose to stay out. Larson led another group that took two tires, while Reddick led those who put on four fresh ones.

Van Gisbergen actually took the lead on the restart, and another major crash broke out behind them. Briscoe hooked Buescher into Preece, destroying all three cars. Berry also got a piece of it.

After a lengthy cleanup, the race resumed, and Bell cleared Van Gisbergen. SVG faded, but slowly.

Up front, Hamlin tried to chase down Bell with Reddick right behind them.

A. Dillon slammed the wall and went to the garage, but the incident did not require a caution.

After a single lightning strike six miles away, NASCAR displayed the caution, but did not halt the race. The field pitted, and Suarez took the lead with a two-tire call.

The race resumed with 41 laps to go, and Suarez held the lead surprisingly well. He pulled a mighty block on Bell, and the caution then flew for light raindrops in the area.

After a lot of stop-and-go, the race got back underway, but the Toyota drivers were fighting so hard against themselves, and it allowed Suarez to get away.

Suddenly, the rain returned and the race was red-flagged. It had intensified, and NASCAR decided that they should call the race.

Watch: Bell reacts to runner-up finish at Charlotte

RACE

All Stats

Cla	Driver	#	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points	Retirement
1	D. Suarez Spire Motorsports	7	Chevrolet	373	4:37'07.572		17	55
2	C. Bell Joe Gibbs Racing	20	Toyota	373	+0.610 4:37'08.182	0.610	16	50
3	D. Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing	11	Toyota	373	+0.611 4:37'08.183	0.001	14	60
4	T. Reddick 23XI Racing	45	Toyota	373	+2.056 4:37'09.628	1.445	14	53
5	K. Larson Hendrick Motorsports	5	Chevrolet	373	+3.424 4:37'10.996	1.368	14	54
6	T. Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing	54	Toyota	373	+4.116 4:37'11.688	0.692	14	53
7	R. Blaney Team Penske	12	Ford	373	+5.453 4:37'13.025	1.337	14	41
8	J. Logano Team Penske	22	Ford	373	+7.901 4:37'15.473	2.448	14	29
9	W. Byron Hendrick Motorsports	24	Chevrolet	373	+8.611 4:37'16.183	0.710	15	28
10	Z. Smith Front Row Motorsports	38	Ford	373	+9.170 4:37'16.742	0.559	15	27
11	S. van Gisbergen TrackHouse Racing	97	Chevrolet	373	+10.323 4:37'17.895	1.153	13	33
12	R. Stenhouse Jr Hyak Motorsports	47	Chevrolet	373	+10.614 4:37'18.186	0.291	16	29
13	E. Jones Legacy Motor Club	43	Toyota	373	+10.656 4:37'18.228	0.042	16	30
14	M. McDowell Spire Motorsports	71	Chevrolet	373	+10.657 4:37'18.229	0.001	16	23
15	B. Keselowski RFK Racing	6	Ford	373	+12.634 4:37'20.206	1.977	17	25
16	C. Custer Haas Factory Team	41	Chevrolet	373	+13.360 4:37'20.932	0.726	16	21
17	A. Bowman Hendrick Motorsports	48	Chevrolet	373	+15.136 4:37'22.708	1.776	14	20
18	A. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing	16	Chevrolet	373	+15.737 4:37'23.309	0.601	16	19
19	C. Heim 23XI Racing	67	Toyota	373	+16.181 4:37'23.753	0.444	15
20	T. Gilliland Front Row Motorsports	34	Ford	373	+19.601 4:37'27.173	3.420	17	17
21	R. Herbst 23XI Racing	35	Toyota	372	+1 Lap 4:37'21.885	1 Lap	15	16
22	B. Wallace 23XI Racing	23	Toyota	372	+1 Lap 4:37'24.537	2.652	16	15
23	C. Hocevar Spire Motorsports	77	Chevrolet	372	+1 Lap 4:37'24.695	0.158	16	14
24	N. Gragson Front Row Motorsports	4	Ford	372	+1 Lap 4:37'25.503	0.808	15	13
25	T. Dillon Kaulig Racing	10	Chevrolet	372	+1 Lap 4:37'26.052	0.549	15	12
26	J. Nemechek Legacy Motor Club	42	Toyota	372	+1 Lap 4:37'26.568	0.516	16	11
27	A. Hill Richard Childress Racing	33	Chevrolet	372	+1 Lap 4:37'27.669	1.101	14
28	C. Ware Rick Ware Racing	51	Chevrolet	371	+2 Laps 4:37'31.391	1 Lap	15	9
29	J. Berry Wood Brothers Racing	21	Ford	371	+2 Laps 4:37'33.664	2.273	25	8
30	C. Buescher RFK Racing	17	Ford	367	+6 Laps 4:37'32.847	4 Laps	16	10
31	K. Legge Live Fast Motorsports	78	Chevrolet	361	+12 Laps 4:37'32.018	6 Laps	16	6
32	A. Dillon Richard Childress Racing	3	Chevrolet	338	+35 Laps 4:04'15.591	23 Laps	12	5	Accident
33	R. Preece RFK Racing	60	Ford	328	+45 Laps 3:48'42.301	10 Laps	12	7	Accident
34	C. Briscoe Joe Gibbs Racing	19	Toyota	328	+45 Laps 3:48'42.508	0.207	12	27	Accident
35	R. Chastain TrackHouse Racing	1	Chevrolet	317	+56 Laps 3:35'06.382	11 Laps	10	2	Accident
36	T. Hill Garage 66	66	Ford	291	+82 Laps 3:14'59.260	26 Laps	13		Fire
37	C. Elliott Hendrick Motorsports	9	Chevrolet	89	+284 Laps 57'13.717	202 Laps	5	1	Accident
38	A. Cindric Team Penske	2	Ford	52	+321 Laps 31'24.376	37 Laps	3	1	Accident
39	C. Zilisch TrackHouse Racing	88	Chevrolet	52	+321 Laps 31'26.972	2.596	4	1	Accident
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